Starlight, Star Bright
by HourglassGluedToTheTable
Summary: For as long as there is hatred, my mind will be consumed by darkness...  Whisper... whisper...  Starlight, star bright...


**A/N: This is a story for the challenge "Daily Prompts From The Mods" by the Moderators http:/forum. fanfiction. net /topic /44309 /27689014 /1/ for the words:**

**Starlight, star bright, Crystal clear, It's too hot, Wrong move, It's over, Broken vase, Always raining, and shooting stars. (I know that last one had more to the quote, but I couldn't make it all work.)**

**And it is also is for the challenge "Random Prompt Challenge" by Zombie Reine http:/forum. fanfiction. net /topic /44309 /29975169 /1/ for the theme Random Objects/ Things. I'm not sure if you want me to write which words I used… I don't think you do haha so I'm not going to.**

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The sun set so brilliantly on the horizon. You could see all the colors of the rainbow and more.

_Yellow. Pink. Turquoise._

Hermione sat, her back against the tent, staring into the sun until it was all she saw. She couldn't look anywhere without seeing it. A bright white spot, burned into her retina.

"Hey."

She didn't need to turn to see the speaker, she could tell by the voice.

_Like the ruffle of parchment. The crackling of leaves. Water in a stream._

_Whisper… whisper…_

"Hi, Ron."

Ron sat down besides her, following her gaze to the sunset. "Knut for your thoughts?"

Her mind was reeling. She couldn't make it stop.

_Twenty-nine knuts in a sickle… Seventeen sickles in a galleon…_

"Nothing, really."

They sat, immersed in their own thoughts, until Hermione broke the silence.

"This is good, isn't it?" she asked, more to herself than to Ron. "There's nothing to worry about, no Death Eaters."

_Just darkness. Absolute darkness._

Ron looked at her strangely. "Yeah, I guess. Hermione, is there something wrong?"

_Pinecones. Snow-topped mountains. Fish swimming in a stream._

"What do you mean?"

"It's just, you seem really… distracted."

_Cucumber. Beige. Cookie. Floss._

"I'm fine, just a little… confused."

"What's on your mind? Tell me."

_Tell me… tell me…_

Hermione needed her head to stop. She needed a distraction. She needed…

_Kleenex. Horse shoes. The color blue._

"I'm not sure."

Ron looked at her again. "You're not sure?"

"Yes."

_Yes… yes… no…never…_

"It's like my mind is moving faster than me, and I can't keep up."

_And it's raining. Always raining. _

"Wherever I look I see death or destruction, and I can't stop it. I just sit and watch…"

_Like a broken vase. It's too late…too late…_

"Are you wearing the Horcrux? Take it off, Hermione. It's planting images in your head."

_Wrong move._

"I am perfectly sane! Stop accusing me of things, Ron. I can think for myself, no one is controlling me."

_It's over… over…_

"I'm not accusing you – Hermione, where are you going? Hermione!"

She took off running.

_Starlight, star bright._

She stopped in a clearing to catch her breath.

"What's happening to me?" She whispered.

_Flowers. Piggy Banks. Gum._

"Hermione!" She heard a voice call in the distance. She didn't want to be found. She couldn't be found.

_Starlight, star bright._

She wandered around aimlessly, looking for a way out.

_It's closing in… it's so hot… too hot…_

_Quills, Fresh parchment-_

_Darkness… Rain…_

"Hermione! Stop running, I'm trying to help you – Ow! It's me! Ron! I'm trying to help."

She elbowed him in the stomach to get him to release her, but that didn't help.

_Shooting stars. _

_Falling... falling... falling..._

"You need to take it off. It will clear your head." He pinned her arms back and pulled the locket off.

And then… nothing.

_Crystal clear._

"Whoa."

Ron peered down at her. "Are you okay, now?"

Hermione nodded, standing shakily. Ron reached out to grab her arm, and she let him lead her back into the tent. She sat on her bed, staring at her hands in her lap.

"What was that all about?" he asked.

All she could do is shrug. "It didn't make any sense, it was like there were extra voices in my head, blocking out my own thoughts…"

Ron nodded. "That's what it's like when I have it on. It magnifies the bad thoughts in my head until they are all that I'm thinking about."

"But, those weren't my thoughts. It wasn't my voice, Ron. It was like… someone else was inside my head." She looked at him fearfully.

Ron sat next to her on the bed, slowly. "Do you remember everything that happened in the past 24 hours?"

She quickly went through the events of the day in her head. Not much had happened, but there weren't any large blank spots. She nodded.

Ron let out a sigh. "Then I think it's okay. Let's just… take a break from that thing for a while."

Hermione nodded, trying to avoid eye contact with the locket. But, it was like her eyes were transfixed – she couldn't stay away. And when she finally gave in…

_Whisper… whisper…_

_Starlight, star bright._

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**A/N: I know this was kind of confusing, but the basic idea was that this was during the Horcrux hunt, before Ron left them, and Hermione had been wearing the locket for a while. And she started having these extra thoughts in her head.**

**In the beginning, the thoughts are hers, trying to cover up the incessant whispering in the back of her mind. So she talks about converting money and just focuses on any distraction she can get. Then the dark thoughts start to take over and she keeps trying to think of random things to distract her, but the dark thoughts keep coming back, until they completely envelop her.**

**It sounds kind of stupid, but I think it would be pretty scary. Having these strange whispers in your head talking about darkness and rain. I don't know.**

**But yah (:**


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